Speaker Prieto has three public jobs and does consulting

You have to wonder when new Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto has time to sleep. He is a code inspector who holds three public jobs. Plus, reports the Star-Ledger, Prieto is now consulting for private clients, including a Camden County-based firm whose owner is a major donor to South Jersey Democrats. Reporter Matt Friedman writes that Prieto, a Democrat from Hudson County -- far north of Camden County -- declined to say what kind of consulting work he’s doing. He confirmed one of his clients is All Risk Property Damage Experts, a disaster recovery firm that employs state Sen. James Beach, a Camden County Democrat.

"Prieto, 53, is the code official for Secaucus and the construction official in nearby Guttenberg. Those two jobs, combined with his $65,000 salary as speaker, earn him well over $200,000 a year," Friedman reports.

"Prieto became speaker as part of a power sharing arrangement between South Jersey power broker George Norcross and state Sen. Nicholas Sacco, a Hudson County Democrat, among others. And All Risk’s owner, Frank Messina, has supported Norcross’s preferred candidates through political donations."

That includes Norcross' brother, Donald, who is running for Congress and Lou Greenwald, who also is in the state Assembly and backed by George Norcross.

Beach lists his job on his legislative website as a "property damage specialist" for All Risk, the Star-Ledger wrote. He also worked as a teacher, educational administrator, high school football coach, freeholder and county clerk from Camden County. He is supported by George Norcross as well.

Bill Schluter, a former Republican state senator and former vice chairman of the New Jersey ethics commission, told the paper that Prieto’s arrangement with All Risk and its owner’s donations to Norcross-backed candidates "raises red flags."

"It raises the question of what is Prieto going to do if Norcross comes to him and says we want this particular government policy to be enacted or this bill to pass," Schluter said. "Is Prieto going to say no to Norcross?"